The New Normal, Living with Alzheimer Disease

Our journey is moving forward at a steady pace. Mom is doing okay and does her crosswords puzzles, criptiquotes, and word finds every day. Just a few months ago she could finish a hard puzzle in a matter of minutes. Now she struggles to finish one in several hours. She tells me how hard they are to do and I must be buying her the PhD level books. I’m not. Today, she has worked in her books for about 10 hours. I have to stop her so that she can eat lunch and dinner. She will be doing those puzzles until I tell her that it is time for bed, at 10:30 PM. Not much conversation today.

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Mom doesn’t like to leave the house. I don’t push her but if I ask her to go with me and she says yes, we head straight out the door before she changes her mind. I took her and her best friend shopping for new outfits last week. They love having a younger chauffeur and Mom and Zona can be quite funny when together. While out and about, vigilance is important as she will wander away. I have to find items and give her two choices as she struggles with simple decisions and tasks. When we went to the dressing room, she needed help trying on the items. As we disrobed her to try the clothes I discovered that she had picked her skin on her torso and back. We (doctors included) knew she was picking at her nails, arms and legs but had no idea she was picking everywhere. Her arms, legs and body are covered in sores. The condition is known as Dermatillomania and is seen in the middle stages of Alzheimer Disease. No medicine seems to help her with this issue. The concern is that she will develop and infection and that would expedite her mental spiral. She will stop, at least for a little while, when reminded.

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Mom picked a beautiful teal pants suit with a nice necklace and Zona picked a couple of items too. These outfits were for this past Sunday. Mom was going to be honored as Woman of the Year at her church and it was a surprise. We also shopped for hats as all the women were to wear hats for Crowns for Christ. We all bought fabulous hats. The shopping tired the friends out so they were pretty quiet on the way home. It was a good outing but mom doesn’t remember anything about the shopping trip and wondered where the clothes came from.

When we got to the church on Sunday, July 14th, Mom’s grandchildren, great grands, brother and cousins were there waiting. Mom got very excited that they were there but she still didn’t know that anything was up. During the service they talked about all she has done over the years for the church and community and then announced her name and asked her to come to the altar. She looked at me and asked, “Did you know about this?” I replied, “Why, yes I did,” with a huge smile on my face. Mom went up and received her plaque and a dozen variegated pink roses. They asked her if she wanted to say anything…… I held my breath as at this point in our journey we never know what she might say. Mom said, “I’m speechless,” with a big grin on her face. They took her picture and had the family come up for more pictures.

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After the award, we were all invited to the fellowship hall for a large country food spread and some fellowship. Mom did well and everyone came by to talk with her and many told me how much they love her. It was a good event and mom was all smiles. When we went back to her house there were many visitors who came by to see her. The last visitors left around 6:30 PM, after Mom fell asleep in her chair. She was exhausted. It was a lovely day with a lot of smiles and hugs and kisses. Today, Mom doesn’t remember much about that day. That’s okay. All of us will help her remember (for a short while).

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This week has been pretty quiet. Mom has been enjoying her puzzle books, ice cream and kettle chips, not necessarily in that order. Mom has adopted my cat, Scurry Murray, as her own and doesn’t want me to touch him. She has gone out with me a couple of times to run errands and we bought some lovely flowers. She loves flowers a lot but not as much as ice cream. I did her hair for her and she’s been getting her shower and wearing makeup everyday. Each day with her is a blessing and we try to fill her days with acceptance and love. She is a very special woman. She deserves better than this.

I find this blog cathartic. Don’t know how often I will post but will as this journey progressives. This has been a good week, even with emotions being fluid as we try to come to grips with our new normal. Stay tuned for updates.